The Liberal Underground Culture in Iran

Iran was not always an Islamic theocracy. Before the 1979 revolution, Iran had a vibrant and modern culture which was a natural evolution of it's historic cultural and traditional norms. Many European concepts such as enlightenment and humanism started spreading to Iran, albeit with a delay. The details of revolution are very complex and extensive, which requires its own lengthy article.

Ever since the revolution, an underground secular culture has survived and developed in its own unique way. The element of secrecy is obviously there, but its limited to physical aspects of the culture. On online spheres, it is much more open due to how harder it is to control that space. As the government cracks down harder and doubles down on its oppressive ways, more and more people adopt this culture. Several big uprisings have happened in past 20 years and were shot down violently. The most prominent ones are the following two:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Iranian_presidential_election_protests

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Iranian_protests

People tend to adapt to their environment and this has happened in an unique way in Iran. There is a very western centric and open minded culture hidden under the pretense of a pious society. Pretending to be pious in public is very advantageous for social mobility and wealth accumulation but it has become a mantle that is worn. In private, people are free to be who they like which is very different from their public image. This public/private divide has led to many underground gatherings and rituals, usually inspired by western liberal societies. Recently, I attended a Halloween party in Tehran and there is a video recording of it below, which has also been shared on Iranian social media and went viral.

This liberal underground culture is very significant to the recent rebellious attitude of millennials and generation Z towards the government. Because one of the core principles of current Iranian government is portraying western cultures as degenerate and evil, but it has completely failed to convince the generations who were born after the revolution and reject the Islamic government and embrace values of Iran before 1979 as well as many modern values rooted in developed countries.